In sickness and in health
by irislafey
Summary: In which Sirius is pulled out of Azkaban to decide Harry's fate after the six year old child falls sick on holiday with the Dursleys in France and what happens next. Will contain a minor OC.


OK, so this has been swimming in my head for a while now. I am pretty certain it won't go much further, unless I get a decent idea on how I want this continued. But if anyone has suggestions or can pitch a good outcome I may continue or hand it over to a better quill.

* * *

**In sickness and in health**

It was Harry's fifth year of staying with the Dursleys and his first time ever that they were taking him with them on a family holiday. They would have preferred to leave him with someone, Marge or Mrs. Figg. But Mrs. Figg had gone on an extended 3 months holiday and Marge found someplace to be that couldn't allow her to take care of the brat. So Harry was excited. They were going at the sea side in the south of France and even if Harry knew he would be made to look after the rented house, clean and make breakfast, he knew he would find a bit of time to enjoy not being stuck in No. 4 Privet drive. Little did little Harry know that this unplanned vacation would mean extreme changes in his life.

Not one week into their three week sojourn Harry started feeling sick. By the end of the second week, he had collapsed on the beach and a bystander called the ambulance sending him to the Muggle hospital in Marseille in critical condition. The Muggle hospital had no way of treating what had befallen him because it was not a normal disease. But as France would have it, there was always one Medi-witch undercover in each of the major Muggle hospitals and the woman, though inexperienced, was a former student of a Mademoiselle Alexandra Dantes.

Green wrinkled eyes scanned the chart of the patient before turning towards the 6 year old boy who was slowly but surely heading towards an early death.

'Ou est son guardienne?' **(Where is his guardian?)** the voice was raspy, as if the elderly woman had not spoken with anyone in a long time.

'On lui a pas trouvé.' **(We couldn't find him.) **Said the assistant wizard looking defeated.

'Pour quoi pas?' **(Why not?)**

'On ne sait pas qu'il est.' **(We don't know who he is.)**

'Tu n'as pas appris à lire ?' **(Didn't you learn how to read?)**

'Mais Madame.' **(But Madame)**

'Mademoiselle, et il n'y a pas de mais dans cette situation. Faits tout possible pour préserver l'enfant. Je vais retourner le plus vite possible.' **(It is Miss, and there is no but in this case. Do everything in your power to keep the child alive. I will return as soon as possible.)** And with that the old Mademoiselle left the St. Jeanne Hospital for magical maladies and injuries in Aix-en-Provence (where young Harry had been transported from Marseilles) to visit the old decrepit and unsanitary prison those silly brits still felt proud of.

Meanwhile, the three Dursleys were beginning to grow slightly concerned that the freak had not returned after two days.

The new French minister of magic had been ecstatic to hear that the Great War heroin Alexandra Dantes was coming for an audience. That was until the distinguished mademoiselle asked for Sirius Black to be brought from Azkaban to France immediately. But no matter how crazy the demand, if it was Dantes that asked for it no one in their rightful minds would do anything but execute. For if Albus Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald, Alexandra Dantes was the one that saved lives and held up against the dark wizard until the lazy brit finally decided to show (at least that was what the French were saying). Alexandra had been a medi witch during the Second World War and the Grindelwald war but she soon found herself not only saving lives but protecting and fighting on the front lines. She was a national hero the likes of which had not been seen since Jean d'Arc. So if she wanted to meet the right hand man of Voldemort, she would meet him.

Sirius Black was confused. He had been woken up in the middle of the night forcefully dragged out of his cell, restraining cuffs planted on his wrists and ankles and portkeyed to a very white room. He tried to gather his thought but the brightness of it all was too much. Even with his eyes closed it was too bright so he shielded himself with a skeletal hand draped in the rags of an Azkaban prisoner. After what felt like an eternity but was probably less than half an hour a door materialized and opened revealing a white haired witch with white robes and an impressive cane surveying him through square glasses.

'Mr. Black.' Her French accent permeated through her English. 'Do you know why you are here?'

'No.' Sirius's voice broke and he tried to clear his throat he had not spoken with anyone in such a long time.

'Does the name Harry Potter say anything to you?'

'Harry?' Sirius's eyes grew big. What did Harry have to do with anything? He fought back the wave of guilt threatening to overwhelm him. 'Is he here?'

Alexandra studied the man's reactions carefully. 'If I said he was, what would you do?'

'I…' Sirius wanted to see the boy, he wanted to ask for forgiveness, but he knew what he had done, could never be forgiven. 'I don't know.' He finally said.

'If I told you he is dead. What would you do?' Alexandra continued.

'No, no he can't be.' Sirius managed to say before taking a step back and his knees giving way under him. 'He was alive. I saw him, I saw him that night. Hagrid was taking him to Dumbledore, the old man wouldn't have let anything happen to Harry. He can't be dead, please!'

Whatever Alexandra had expected, it was not this. She had expected a half mad man, but instead the malnourished prisoner in front of her didn't show signs of madness, weariness, yes. Trauma and PTSD, yes, but not madness.

'He isn't dead.' She found herself saying looking at grief stricken eyes and saw them relax.

'Thank Merlin.' Black sighed.

'But he isn't far from death. That is why you are here. The child's magical guardian has to make the decision on how to further proceed from here.'

'I don't understand. Is Harry ill?'

'Unfortunately yes.'

Sirius got up fast. 'Take me to him.'

Alexandra studied the man for a few moments longer, there was no hesitation in his movements.

'Follow me then.'

And she led him out of his confinement and into the special room prepared for the little boy inside the French Ministry.

'Harry.' Sirius made to pass Alexandra and go to the boy's bed side but two French Aurors pointed their wands at him.

'Not a step closer Black.' One of them said making Sirius stop dead in his tracks.

'Mr. Black, I want a solemn vow from you that you will not harm Mr. Potter in any way while you are here.' Alexandra said.

Sirius didn't hesitate and spoke the vow word for word the way the medi witch wanted it before rushing at Harry's side.

'He's burning up, but why? There are cures for fever.' Sirius asked Alexandra.

'He contracted Dragon pox.'

Sirius went white.

'That can't be. Every baby wizard is vaccinated against that disease at the age of 2.'

'But Mr. Potter hasn't been living with wizards.'

'What do you mean? And why isn't Remus here? He's Harry's guardian, isn't he?'

'I don't know any Remus, Mr. Black. But the magical records show that Mr. Potter has but one living guardian, you. He had been living with his mother's sister and he has unfortunately not been vaccinated against dragon pox.'

'That can't be. Even at Petunia's. Any visit to the doctor would have given Harry this vaccine. The hospitals in Britain even the muggle ones know the name of every magical child born once Harry's appointment to the doctor was noted the –'

'Harry hasn't had an appointment to the doctor in 5 years.' Alexandra said.

Sirius's eyes grew big as the realization sunk in. This was really it, Harry had dragon pox and there was no cure for it.

'Is there anything that can be done? Anything at all?'

'Unfortunately no. Dragon Pox can't be treated, just prevented, but you know that.'

'So when you said I had to make a decision…'

'It is whether to keep him in this state, prolonging his agony for a few weeks, maybe one or two months or…'

Sirius set his head in his hands and started crying. The two aurors exchanged confused looks as Alexandra approached the grieving man.

'Mr. Black.' Sirius flinched at the gentle touch on his shoulder and the soft voice. 'I am sorry. We'll give you some time alone.' Alexandra gestured to the two Aurors to leave and she too exited the room.

Sirius's despair only grew in the next few hours. He felt trapped, even more so than in Azkaban, he felt defenceless, useless, this was all his fault. Had he been Secret keeper James and Lily would have still been alive, and Harry would never have contracted the disease. But now, now as he looked closer to the boy he saw the devastating effects his stupid decision led to. Harry not only was dying, but he looked so small for his age, so skinny, 5 years and not one visit to the doctors, 5 years with Petunia and her fat husband. Harry looked malnourished and neglected. Harry, that precious baby boy he had vowed to protect and cherish as his godfather. A lot good that did him. They should have picked Remus, he was the responsible one, he would have died before letting something like this happen. But maybe not. Clearly Remus didn't have any contact with the boy, if he had he would have been here, he would have taken Harry to the doctors himself. Why hadn't Remus done that? Where was he? Where was Dumbledore and Hagrid? Why was Harry like this? Why had he been sent to Azkaban without a trial, why couldn't he have been there for Harry? He knew he would have died to protect James and Lily and their son, he would die now if it meant Harry's life would be spared. His eyes snapped open. Would it be enough? Would it be enough to help Harry fight the disease? He had no way of knowing, but he had to try. It was dark, but he didn't care, only the cuffs, he couldn't do magic with the cuffs. But maybe if he explained what he wanted to do, they would let him. After all, he was a skeleton of a man, a dark wizard, surely they would rejoice if he gave his life to save Harry's. He got up on shaky legs and went to the door. There were two Aurors outside, but not the same ones as before.

'I would like to speak with the lady that was here before.' He told them at wand point. Alexandra Dantes arrived with a heavy heart. If the man sent for her it meant he had come to a decision, and the only decision for which she would be called would be to end the little boy's suffering.

'So you've made your decision, Mr. Black.' She said as she and the two aurors entered the room. Sirius was on his feet brushing the fringe off Harry's forehead.

'Yes, I want to die.' He said firmly looking up and into Alexandra's eyes.

'I don't think you understood-'

'No, I understood perfectly. But there is a way to save Harry, at least I hope it will save him. If I sacrifice myself and my life force goes into him, it might be enough for him to fight the disease.'

'You can't do that.'

'Why not, it's my life. I'll be sent back to Azkaban after this, to waste away. Why not use me to give Harry a better chance at living?'

'What you're describing is dark magic.'

'I don't care! Harry deserves to live!'

'And you deserve to die?' Alexandra asked.

'More so than most.'

'Mr. Black, I'm confused. You are said to be the right hand man of what you people call You know who. You are said to have betrayed this boy's parents to said dark lord and having killed 13 people. But your actions here…they don't match the description above.'

'Does it matter?'

'To you, maybe not. But I would like to understand, and in doing so, I might be inclined to help you in your foolish endeavour.'

'You won't believe me, but what the hell. I'll tell you. I'm innocent. I was never Voldemort's right hand man, nor have I betrayed James and Lily to him because I wasn't the secret keeper. I…James wanted me to be. And I would have done it too, but something kept nagging me that I was the obvious choice, too obvious, so why not trick the bastard. Make it seem I was secret keeper when in fact I wasn't. He would lose time chasing me around while the real secret keeper would be safely hidden away. The problem was, I chose the wrong man for the job. Our long-time friend Peter Pettigrew had switched sides, he became secret keeper in my stead and he betrayed James and Lily to Voldemort. Everyone thought it was me, because both James and I said so. After realizing what Peter had done, what I had done really, I…I left Harry with Hagrid and went after the traitor. I managed to corner him but he got the better of me, he blew a gas line in the middle of the street killing 12 Muggles before cutting off his finger and transforming into a rat and vanishing into the sewers.'

'Transforming into a rat?'

'Pettigrew is an unregistered Animagus that takes the form of a rat.'

'And you know this?'

'Because I helped him achieve his form.'

'You have to admit it sounds incredible.' Alexandra said

'Speak plainly. You don't believe me. But I don't care, I'm not asking you to believe me. I'm asking you to help me save my godson.'

'I took a solemn vow Mr. Black. I can't in good consciousness help a man commit suicide.'

'So you won't help me?'

'I didn't say that.' Alexandra smiled taking Sirius by surprise. 'You see, while you see one possibility, I now see another.'

'What do you mean?'

'You think your death will help Harry live. But what if I told you it's not your death, but your life that will do that.'

'How?'

'Before the Vaccine against Dragon pox was invented parents had another way of keeping their children safe from disease and death. It's an old ritual and no longer practiced because it is well, borderline dark. But it will require for you to live.'

'I don't understand.'

'It's simple. The ritual makes Harry's life dependent on yours. That is to say, he won't be able to die while you still live.'

'But that won't cure him.'

'But it will give him the time he needs to fight the disease. With your help, it will take a few weeks but Harry will be able to fight off the Dragon Pox and will recover. But you will need to be there for him, and you will feel everything he feels, the fever, the pain, the delirium only the disease won't be able to kill you and because of that, Harry will be able to fight it and live.'

'Do it.'

'There are repercussions.'

'Do they outweigh his life?'

'No, but you should know about them before deciding.'

'Then explain, so we can get this over with.' And Alexandra explained that as he would be able to feel everything Harry experienced, so would the boy feel Sirius. This effect of the ritual could be negated with Occlumency and Sirius was sufficiently capable of it to keep Harry from harm. Another side effect would be that once he came of age Harry could decide to change the ritual, the strength and magic from Sirius would no longer be needed to keep the man from harm, but Harry could use his own strength and magic to keep Sirius from death. Of course Sirius dismissed it saying it won't be the case, he didn't plan to tell the boy about that part of the ritual and not knowing, Harry wouldn't be able to effectively change anything, keeping Sirius very much mortal (this being the most frowned upon part of the ritual). So a few hours later the ritual was done and Sirius was settled in an extra bed within the now magically enlarged chamber where Harry was slowly very slowly recovering from illness. The man had just enough time to take a shower and change into a clean set of hospital robes before the effects of the Dragon pox began to make their presence known.

Alexandra insisted on the restraints to be removed so that Sirius could use his magic to remain conscious and fight the disease. Surprising for the prisoner, her wish was granted. He knew who she was now, even if the British magical world honoured Dumbledore, they credited Dantes's efforts in the war too. And Sirius had read about her in a few history books. Still it was hard to reconcile the images of the young and beautiful blond French Madmoiselle in the books with the elegant yet old lady that was treating his godson and himself.

'You know I had a crush on you when I was 14.' He joked as she checked his temperature.

'Did reality burst your fantasy bubble?' the woman cocked an eyebrow.

'If you save Harry's life, I'll worship you until the day I die.' Sirius said wincing as she poked him with her wand to test the skin's reaction.

'I think delirium is setting in quicker than expected, Black.'

'It's Sirius. And it's the truth, I'm not yet that far gone.'

'Well, if you can still joke, then you're holding up better than expected.'

'I hope so. How's Harry?'

'He's still knocked out, but his fever has gone down a bit. A bit doesn't mean anything yet. I told you it will be weeks until the boy is completely healed. And for you the worst hasn't even come yet. Get some rest, and I'll send a tray of food up to you.'

'I'm not hungry.'

'Don't make me use a force feeding spell on you. You're skin and bones.'

'Does it matter?'

'Of course it does! If you die, Harry dies.'

'I won't.'

'Then you best start eating.'

It was one week later that Harry first opened his eyes. He still had a fever, but he was feeling better than he had in ages. He blinked the room into focus realizing his glasses were not on his face he turned around to get them from their usual place inside the cupboard only to realize, he wasn't inside his cupboard, he was in a big bed in a big room. How did he get there? Why was he there? It was all a blur, he was supposed to be on vacation with his aunt and uncle. He tried to sit up but his movements woke someone up.

'Harry!' the unknown voice was filled with concern as Harry turned towards it he saw a blur come closer and a bit into focus. It was a man, a black haired man with distinctly grey eyes who was by his side now and helped him sit up.

'My glasses.' He said in a whisper and soon enough gentle hands set his glasses on his nose.

'How are you feeling?' the man asked as he came into focus but Harry didn't answer. He was confused. Who was he? Why was this man with such sad grey eyes here? Wherever here was. He looked around. The room was big and white with two windows on the right side that showed him it was night time and it was raining outside. There was a sofa with two armchairs in front of the windows and two beds one Harry himself occupied and one from where the man had come from. The light in the room came from a night lamp next to the man's bed where a book lay discarded.

'Where am I?' Harry asked.

'In a special room inside the French ministry in Paris. You've been very sick Harry.' The man stroked Harry's unruly hair affectionately.

'I'm sorry.'

'Why are you sorry?'

'I fell sick. I ruined my aunt and uncle's vacation, didn't I?'

'You shouldn't feel sorry for something you couldn't control. The important thing is for you to get better.' Harry stiffened as the man pulled him into a hug. No one had hugged Harry before.

'Who are you?' but apparently that was the wrong thing to ask since the man withdrew from the hug and Harry somehow felt something akin to a heavy heart as the man turned away from him. The boy would have extended a hand to comfort the man, but he didn't know if he was allowed. Something told Harry the heavy heart was what this grey eyed stranger was feeling, and it wasn't an easy thing to feel.

'I'm sorry.' Harry said quietly

'Why?'

'Because I made you sad.' Harry explained. This seemed to startle Sirius, Harry felt the surprise too until the foreign feeling of sadness and guilt and surprise suddenly stopped.

'I'm sorry, I should have realized, now that you're conscious, I need to be more careful.'

Harry frowned, careful with what? But he didn't ask for fear of saddening the man further.

'My name is Sirius Black. And I am your godfather.'

Harry's eyes grew big with wonder.

'Like Cinderella?'

Sirius looked at Harry confused. 'Who?'

'You know, that story about a girl with an evil step mother and one day her fairy godmother came and used magic to make everything better. Of course I'm a boy so I'd have to have a fairy godfather. Can you do magic?'

To say that this burst of conversation confused Sirius further was an understatement. He wasn't a fairy, and sure he could do magic but somehow he doubted that what Harry thought to be magic was accurate.

'Er, Harry, can you tell me more about this Cinderella person?'

'Sure, but I thought it was a fairy-tale.'

Again with the fairy things. Did Harry meet a fairy? Those little buggers were tricksters, what had they told Harry. He had to find out. So Sirius listened carefully as Harry explained the story of Cinderella, the way he had seen it in kindergarten when the caretakers brought the Disney film for them to view. Dudley complained that it was too girly, but Harry liked the idea of talking animals and pumpkins turning into carriages and secretly he wished a fairy godmother would help him escape from the Dursleys, but a fairy godfather was good enough. When his explanation reached the part about turning mice into horses with the Bibity bobitty bo incantation his godfather burst into barking laughter. Harry then realized this was probably something silly and stupid and of course there was no magic and flushed red.

'It's not real, isn't it? You aren't my fairy godfather…' he whispered but Sirius heard him with ears as good as a dog he recovered from laughing and pulled Harry into a hug.

'No kid, I'm not a fairy godfather. But I am your godfather, and although your story was interesting it's not really accurate.'

'I know it's just a fairy tale, but I thought…I thought that you would take me away from my aunt and uncle. I don't want a prince or a princess, but maybe just…'

'I doubt you'll need my help getting any princess or prince that you may want in the future.' Sirius smiled gently streaking Harry's hair. 'As for you going back to your aunt's, if you don't want to, you're not going.'

'I…what?'

'I don't know what will happen after you get better, but I'll at least make sure you're well taken care of.'

'But I can't go live with you?'

'It's a bit complicated.'

'Why?'

'I want you to come and live with me. But it's not entirely up to me. But I promise, I'll do whatever I can for you to have a nice home.'

'OK.' Harry said quietly. He wanted to believe the man, but he sighed adding. 'It would have been easier if magic was real.'

'What makes you think it's not?' Sirius asked making Harry look up confused

'But if you're not a fairy godfather…'

'I don't need to be a fairy to do magic.' Sirius chuckled 'And just for your information, fairies can be nasty little buggers.'

'So you can do magic?'

'I can, and so can you.'

'I? But I can't.'

'Sure you can. You're just like me, you're a wizard.'

'No, I can't be a wizard, I'm…I'm just…just Harry.'

'You don't need to be anything else to do magic, just Harry works fine.'

'You're making fun of me, aren't you?'

'I could easily prove it to you if I had a wand. But…' Sirius eyed Harry thoughtfully 'Can you keep a secret?'

'I can.'

'You can't tell anyone, or I'll really get in trouble, well, more than I already am anyway.'

'You're in trouble?'

'A bit, but that's a story for when you're 100% cured. So, promise you won't say anything to anyone.'

'I promise.'

Sirius got off Harry's bed and Harry's eyes watched bewildered as seconds later instead of his godfather he was sharing the room with a huge black dog with the same sad grey eyes. Harry's mouth was open still as Sirius returned to his human form.

'You know, you'll eat a fly if you stay like that for long.'

Harry immediately closed his mouth.

'How?'

'Magic.'

'Magic isn't real. My uncle always says.'

'Don't pay any mind about what he said. Magic is real, and you're a wizard.'

Harry had been bed ridden for the following two weeks, but he had been feeling gradually better and for the past couple of days he even got out of bed alone to go to the bathroom, of course, getting out of bed was the only thing he did alone, because after that his godfather was by his side instantly. Harry had gotten to know the man, at first slowly and shyly but then with time Sirius had grown on the boy. Even though his eyes held so much sadness, they also held a lot of kindness and love and Harry found himself trusting the man like he had never trusted any adult before. Sirius told him stories about his parents and showed him magic, in small amounts because the man said, he didn't have a wand, and without one, it was harder. But somehow Harry knew that was only a partial truth. Sirius was honest to Harry about everything, except when Harry asked Sirius about the older man's state of wellness. That was when Sirius smiled a pretend smile and told him that he was fine and that Harry shouldn't be worried. Well, Harry was worried, because a small pang inside his heart told him Sirius wasn't well. And he got his confirmation one day when the Mad-mouse-elle came to visit and Harry was pretending to be asleep as she and Sirius talked.

'His recovery has been astonishingly fast.' She spoke in that funny English of hers.

'Harry is a strong boy.' Sirius's voice was soft and Harry determined he was in his own bed.

'Sirius, don't mistake me for an idiot. I know what you did.'

'I didn't do anything.'

'Sure you didn't, that's why you can barely stand when Harry isn't looking. That's why your fever hasn't decreased a fraction of a degree since the ritual took effect. You're taking away more than you should. Stop it before it does irreversible damage to your magic.'

'I'm fine.'

'Really? Hold out the wand and conjure up light.'

'There is enough light in the room.'

'Humour me.'

'It will wake Harry.'

'I'll shield him.'

There was a small pause in the conversation, and Harry wanted to open his eyes to see his godfather's light, but he wanted more to listen in on the conversation.

'Damn it Black! What did you do?' hissed the lady doctor. 'Your magical core.'

'Harry needs it more than I do.'

'He needs you more than he needs your magic!' the lady said angrily. 'I was foolish to think your twisted mind would understand that. You leave me no choice.'

'What do you mean?'

'I'm putting you in a healing sleep.'

'What? No! You can't do that! Harry…'

'Harry is fine, he's cured you idiot, but you're too stupid to see it.'

'But you said weeks, maybe months…'

'Not at the rate you exhausted your magic to heal him. Do you think the kid would be happy about that?'

'So he's really healed?'

'He is.'

'Oh thank Merlin.'

'But that's not what I can say about you. You'll be under for at least ten days.'

'Wait…what will happen to Harry?'

'He'll be here when you wake up.'

'But…'

Only Sirius didn't get to finish that thought, somehow the relief of hearing Harry was ok and that he would still be there when he woke up broke the last bit of stubborn strength the older man had and he finally succumbed to unconsciousness before Alexandra charmed him into a dreamless healing trance.

Harry opened his eyes carefully and found his glasses. With the room coming into focus he saw his godfather asleep surrounded by a dome of light on his bed and Alexandra turned at him.

'What will happen to my godfather?'

'He'll be fine, he just acted rashly and put his magic in danger. But this will help him, don't worry.'

'He did this for me?'

'Harry, it wasn't your fault. It was Sirius's choice.'

'But he did this for me.' Harry stressed the sentence out.

'Yes, and for himself. He loves you very much.'

'But why? I…I'm nothing special.'

'You are.' Alexandra smiled 'You're Sirius's whole world right now, so for his sake, as much as yours, I want you to take your medicine and do everything I tell you so that when we wake him up in ten days, he'll see a happy healthy boy waiting for him. Can you do that, Harry?'

'Can't I help him? Like he helped me?'

Alexandra smiled. These two were so much alike it was as if they were father and son. 'You can't help him like that, at least not yet. You first need to grow up.'

'So I can stay with him until then?'

'It's a bit more complicated than that. You see, Sirius has to make some choices.'

'He…he doesn't want me?'

'He wants you with all his heart, but his status isn't ideal right now. He's safe here for the time being, but he can't stay here forever.'

'Why not? I don't mind.'

'Don't you want to go back to England, to your aunt and uncle?'

'No. I want to stay where Sirius is.'

'Then you must be good and get better.'

Harry nodded solemnly.

'I will.'

'Good. Now how about you and I go grab something to eat.'

'I…' Harry looked at Sirius's sleeping form.

Alexandra smiled 'I'll send the food up then.'

'Can…can I go to him?'

'Yes, the dome is a healing dome specifically for the sleeping patient, it won't harm you.'

Harry nodded and got out of bed before climbing next to his godfather. The man looked peaceful but was very hot. Harry arranged a few strands of hair away from the man's face. Sirius had helped Harry, and Harry would help Sirius. The little boy fell asleep next to the man after he ate what a medi witch brought him.

The ten days passed slowly for Harry. It wasn't like he wasn't allowed out of the room, but he only left with Alexandra and even then for short periods of time. It seemed he was afraid to leave Sirius alone, part of him thinking that if he wasn't there Sirius would vanish and he would wake up in the cupboard under the stairs. So when Sirius finally opened his grey eyes the first thing he saw was two very green eyes looking at him as Harry sat on his bed with a colouring book in his hands.

'Sirius!'

'Hey there pup.' Sirius said groggily. 'You look better.'

'Mad-mouse-elle said I put on weight.' Harry said 'I should call her, tell her you are awake.'

'Don't worry about it. She already knows.'

'How?'

'There's a monitoring charm inside the room. She put it up when you were unconscious a few months back.'

'Oh…magic can do so much! Can you teach me?'

'Of course, but you'll only really start to learn after eleven. You're a bit too young now to really control your magic since it is still growing.'

'At eleven then.'

Sirius didn't know what to answer to that, he didn't know what tomorrow would bring for him, let alone five years from now. With Harry healthy again and his presence no longer needed, the French might just send him back to Azkaban.

'Ah, sleeping beauty is awake.'

'I don't know about beauty, but I'm awake.' Sirius said smiling to Alexandra. A moment later two men followed inside the room making Sirius lose his smile and sit up. Harry felt his godfather's unease and instinctively moved towards the older man, trying to hide and at the same time protect Sirius.

'Mr. Black. I know it is a bit too early after your recovery just a few minutes ago.' Said one of the men. 'My name is Jean Claris and I am with the Department of Magical law Enforcement in France.'

'I see. Can I at least say goodbye…'

'To whom?' Jean asked.

'You're taking me back to Azkaban…I'd like to say goodbye to my godson and make sure he's being well taken care of before that. I…I know I can't demand…but…if you have kids, I mean, I know Harry isn't mine, but I love him like he is and I don't want him to go back to people who neglect him.'

'Can't I go with you?' Harry asked.

'No pup, Azkaban isn't for children.'

'It isn't for innocent men either.' Said Alexandra 'Sirius, Jean and Mr. Michael Le Blanc aren't here to take you away. They are here to offer you a trial.'

'They are?'

'Yes Mr. Black. Normally we would not intervene in a matter that doesn't pertain to France, however, we hold human rights and freedom in high regard, and the fact of the matter is, your actions here make us doubt the sentence your country gave you.'

'I wasn't sentenced. I never even had a trial.'

'That is even more reason for you to take our offer.' Said Jean. 'Mr. Le Blanc is a lawyer who will explain to you what we propose and if you choose, he will represent you in our court of law. Naturally it will all have to be done in secret. I wouldn't put it past your countrymen to consider it a breach of the international convention between France and Britain.'

'Can it be done?'

'Yes, as it is, your great-great grandmother was French. If you…chose to apply for French citizenship, we could arrange a trial and offer sanctuary in our wizarding obscuring system.'

'And Harry?'

'Mr. Potter is not French in any way, however, you are his magical guardian, should you be found innocent, your custody of the child would be assured, but only in France or according to the conventions to the brethren Magical countries of France of which Britain isn't part of.'

'So I won't be able to return to England, and if I want Harry to stay with me, neither can he.' Sirius looked at Harry.

'I don't want to go back there Padfoot.' Harry quickly said. 'Let's stay with Mad-mouse-elle. Please, I can learn French, you can too.'

'Are you sure? It-'

'Please, I don't care about England or the Dursleys, please, let's just stay here.'

Sirius sighed 'We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, concentrate on getting your name cleared.' Alexandra reasonably pointed out.

'Very well said.' Michael said. 'Mr. Black, when would it be convenient for you to have a talk?'

'Give me one hour to take a shower, and I'll be ready.'

'Very well.' Jean said 'I'll send someone to get you Mr. Black in one hour. The meeting will be only between you and mr. Le Blanc. I will be on the Ministry's side, so it wouldn't be right for me to take part.'

'Thank you Mr. Claris.'

'Don't thank me just yet. Our justice system is stern.'

Sirius nodded and the two men left.

'Sorry to spring this on you, but there has been a lot of pressure from your ministry and our ministry wants to make sure that they are sticking their neck for an innocent and not a criminal.'

'Do you think they will listen to me?'

'Yes, but unlike your ministry's methods of conducting trials, France has zero tolerance to lies.'

'What do you mean?'

'I know you are familiar to Veritaserum, but in France we don't use it. Instead we use unbreakable oaths. You will be sworn in, to tell the truth, nothing but the truth, if you choose to lie, you die.'

'I won't lie.'

'Good, because I would hate to see my good work go to waste for nothing.'

'I knew I'd grow on you.' Sirius smiled

'Your godfather is insufferable, Harry. I expect you to teach him some manners after this.'

'Will I be able to live with you?' Harry asked

'I'll do whatever I can for us to live together.' Sirius said kissing Harry's forehead.

'OK.'

Sirius's meeting with Le Blanc threw some more light into the French justice system. True, the unbreakable vow was no laughing matter, but the accused could chose not to answer, which wouldn't earn him trust points, but wouldn't kill him in the end. There was a thorough check for any memory alteration charms or potions to make sure the accused didn't cheat, and one of the questions that came up on the trial would always be related to alterations or ways to bypass the vow. After going through a mock simulation with Le Blanc, both of them were fairly certain of Sirius's acquittal. What wasn't certain was the possibility of Sirius keeping guardianship of Harry without returning to England.

'I am his magical guardian.'

'You are, and you also are his legal guardian, however we don't have those records here, the only relevant record was the magical one as it pertained to the child's health. Legally…'

'James and Lily nominated me as his guardian in their wills.'

'But the wills are at Gringotts.'

'Can you not arrange a copy to be transferred to the Gringotts here in Paris?'

'I don't have the authority. Only the legal guardian can do that, if I try it now, the Goblins will notify the ministry of the unusual request, and then our plans to get you cleared in France will surely be disrupted by your people.'

'They are not my people.' Sirius drawled.

'Sirius, I know you are concerned, but there is still time. The Muggle guardians didn't report Harry missing and no one is looking for the boy yet.'

'That's reason enough not to count them as guardians.' Growled Sirius

'I agree with you, but in this case, their neglect is good for us. Now, the trial will be in three days, if you are found innocent, you can go yourself to Gringotts and ask for the wills to be transferred here.'

'Understood. And then?'

'I will prepare all the paperwork for you to be considered a French citizen due to your French ancestry. It will take but a week and a blood test from your part. After that, once the wills are transferred, we can either give Harry a temporary visa as your ward or you can choose to adopt him and he'll receive automatic citizenship.'

'Adopt?'

'If you don't want to…'

'No, I do, but I don't know if Harry does.'

'Well, then that is something you can discuss with him while you wait for your trial.'

'Don't I have to be incarcerated?'

'No, you were and will still be in a constantly supervised room. that is enough, especially since the truth of your innocence is all but proven.'

'Thank you.'

'Don't worry about it. I'm glad to help. Although it would have been great for such a trial to be public, I would have gained a lot of publicity with it.'

'Better this way though.'

'Yes, you will be able to go into the Obscuro program and then both you and Harry will be safer.'

'But not 100% safe.'

'There is always a chance someone will spot you and recognize you or Harry.'

'We could use a glamour.'

'You could, but Harry shouldn't. He is too small.'

'I know. Anyway, we'll figure something out.'

'I am sure you will.'

'About the fees.'

'Don't worry about them, they are being supported by the state. The trial anyway, the rest…well, you can ask Gringotts to transfer 100 Galleons into my account before you vanish off the radar.'

'Thank you again.'

'Don't thank me yet, we still have a trial to win.'

* * *

On Harry's 17th birthday a beautiful falcon delivered him a letter from Madmoiselle Dantes. She had passed away a few years back but there was something of hers that she intended Harry to have. Harry was not usually an early riser but the excitement of his coming of age party had kept him awake. So when the letter arrived very early at about 5 AM he was in his room in the chalet he and his friends had rented for their 2 week mountain hiking experience near Zermatt.

_Cher Harry_

_You are probably wondering why you would receive a letter from a woman who has been gone from your life for quite some time now. Well, there are a few things I wish to share with you on this auspicious day. First of all, happy birthday. You are now officially a man under Wizarding law. I hope your past eleven years were exciting, happy and healthy. And I wish you even better days in the years to come._

_As much as I would like to end this letter here I do have a duty as your doctor, although briefly, to explain your medical file, the one enclosed with this letter. You probably do not remember much from that time eleven years ago, but you almost died. Dragon Pox is a magical disease that if contracted leads to death 9 times out of 10. You were not in the lucky 10%. Your miracle came from a ritual. A ritual that used your godfather at its centre as a tether of sorts for your dying body. If you find this odd or slightly dark that is quite ok. The ritual is outlawed in 50% of the countries because of a few of its potential side effects. One of these effects is the unnatural prolonging of life. But I am getting ahead of myself. The ritual cannot be performed unless the person performing it truly cares for the child. If you were ever in doubt, I can tell you now. Sirius loved you back then and I am sure that love only strengthened in time. Why, do you then ask, didn't he ever tell you of this ritual. Probably because he is an idiot._

Harry snorted at the comment.

_'Long story short, this ritual kept you alive back then and it continued to keep you strong and healthy until now, your 17th birthday and the coming of age in the wizarding world means that the child no longer needs the parent's protection. That being said, you now stand on your two feet. The medical file will explain the effects more thoroughly but I need you to pay close attention to the purification of your cursed bolt shaped scar. It happened during the first week after the ritual, when you were completely unconscious. There was something evil and dark inside it because of the failed killing curse the man named Voldemort cast at you. Though when the ritual was performed we did not know about it, it came as a positive surprise when with Sirius's help we could cleanse it. I imagine you would want to understand better so I enclosed my findings about that bit of dark magic. I advise caution when delving into this information, and never leave these files lying around. If you choose not to read them, or if you don't want them, please destroy them completely and thoroughly. The book explains to you the ritual performed by us back then. Please understand that though some of the effects of this ritual may seem at this point like an intrusion of privacy, with the link formed between you and Sirius during these past 11 years, there was little choice left to both myself and your godfather if we wanted to save your life._

_So little Harry, I leave you with this knowledge, to do with it as you see fit. And once again Happy 17th birthday!_

_Madmoiselle Dantes._

Though on the first read Harry didn't understand the significance of the documents he held in his hands, when he started reading through them he couldn't stop until a knock on his door around noon told him his friends were finally awake. He quickly stored the documents inside the special bag that only he could access and disaparated home.

He aparated in the garden and made his way inside the house.

'DADDY, kann ich mit Oli zum Park gehen?' his 8 year old sister was yelling. **(can I go to the park with Oli?)**

'Nur wenn Frau Wiedmann mit geht.' Sirius answered. **(Only if Mrs. Wiedmann goes with you.)**

Then little two year old James started crying.

'Ihr beide, sei nicht so laut!' **(You two, don't be so loud!) **Amara said and Harry saw her pick up James and started rocking him as he entered the house. His step mother saw him and smiled pointing at where Sirius had gone to talk things over with his daughter Leila.

'Alles gute zum Geburtstag Harry.' She said giving him a side hug as little Jamie smiled at him. **(Happy Birthday, Harry!)**

'Danke.' **(Thank you)**

'Wer ist gekommen?' **(Who arrived?) **Sirius asked before entering the living room. 'Harry!' his surprise turned into a genuine smile as he traversed the room and enveloped the teen in a bear hug.

'Happy birthday, son.' Harry felt tears prickling at his eyes. He had had such a huge fight with Sirius before leaving for the chalet, and yet here he was not a week after and it seemed nothing had happened between them. He had been such an idiot back then. Telling the older man he wanted to leave home one year earlier as his official coming of age in the Muggle world. That he felt trapped inside an insignificant family life, that he wanted to do great things.

'I'm sorry.' He managed to say still keeping the tears from falling. He was of age for Merlin's sake, he wasn't supposed to be crying anymore.

'Hey, pup, what's wrong?'

'I yelled at you, I said things…I…' Sirius pulled Harry into another hug communicating silently with Amara to leave the room so that they could talk in private. He guided Harry to the sofa.

'Harry, you know I can't stay angry at you for long.'

'But it's not fair. I was a complete prick and you did so much for me.'

'Nothing any parent wouldn't do for his kid. Now, this isn't any way to spend your 17th birthday.'

'I left without telling anyone.'

'May I know what prompted this visit?'

'Nothing much, just, well I realized how much you did for me. You saved my life when I was six and then gave me a home. You even call me son, even if…'

'You are my son, and James and Lily's. I don't want to take their place, but you are my son. Never doubt that.'

Harry only nodded before cracking a chuckle 'I'm 17 and I still get this mushy…'

'Hey, I'm 38 and I still get mushy. Just don't let Leila know. She'll let the whole world know out of spite.'

'She still thinks she can do whatever she wants?'

'It's my fault. I rarely can deny her anything.'

'Daddy's girl.'

'I remember it being hard to deny you anything also.'

'Yeah, I still don't know how I didn't turn up a big headed bully.'

'You're better than that. Now, I was going to send this at midday to you with Hedwig. But since you're here.'

Sirius summoned a wrapped up box and handed it to Harry.

'What is this?'

'You're coming of age present.'

Harry opened the box containing a watch with exquisite engravings.

'It's…'

'It's customary for a wizard to receive a watch on his 17th birthday.' He took the watch from Harry and turned it around. 'I received this watch from your grandfather Charlus Potter on my 17th birthday. He was like a father to me and I'm certain he would agree to me passing it on to you.'

'But isn't this important to you? Shouldn't James have it?'

'You're my eldest son. It's yours, it was always destined to you.' Sirius said putting the watch on Harry's wrist.

'How did you get it from England?' Harry asked confused.

'I went to Gringotts and asked it be transferred to the Zurich bank. Don't worry, the goblins are very discrete if you pay them well.'

'Thank you.'

'Now, as much as I'd love for you to spend the day with us, your friends are probably wondering where you vanished to.'

Harry got up, Sirius was right.

'I should go back.'

'You disaparated here, didn't you?'

'I did.' Harry said sheepishly. He wasn't yet allowed to. He still had to pass his exam, but since he Aparated within the wards of the house the Wizarding Community wouldn't be alerted.

'Then I'd better side along you back if you don't want to spend your birthday in a holding cell. Just wait until I tell Amara.'

'OK.'

A few minutes later Sirius and Harry aparated near the chalet behind some very thick shrubbery.

'Well, make sure you tell them some convincing story.'

'I'll just say I got up and took a walk around. Shit!' Harry froze as a mountain viper slithered from under a rock and froze seeing them before getting ready to attack.'

'It's OK, we're not here to hurt you.' Sirius hissed at the snake.

'A speaker?'

'Not initially but yes, I am just delivering my son to his 17th birthday party. The humans here mean you no harm.'

'Then I will not bite him, but make him keep the noise down, I had trouble sleeping last night, they were so loud.'

'I'll throw a muffling charm around the house for the next week.'

'Thanks.' And the viper slithered away.

'What did it say?'

'That you were too loud last night.' Sirius chuckled.

'Oh, I'll put silencing charms on the chalet tonight then.'

'You do that. Well, I'm off.'

'See you in a week's time. Say hi to Leila for me.'

Sirius groaned thinking of his very rebellious daughter. Maybe it was karma, he had been a horrible kid to his parents, for the right reasons, but still, dealing with his daughter seemed a bit of an overkill from destiny's side.

* * *

Harry's magical education ended once he turned 18 finishing the 7 years curriculum at the Academy in Biel as a day student. But Switzerland wasn't like England, and The Magical Academy of Wilhelm Tell in Biel wasn't focusing just on magical subjects. Its curriculum included Maths, Literature both magical and Muggle, Chemistry was a part of Potions making, Anatomy and Biology were courses taught parallel to Magical Creatures, Herbology and Healing, and there was even an optional course for Informatics and computer programing. So when Harry graduated the magical school he also sat the non-magical Abitur exam, ace-ing his papers and applying for the medical university in Bern which incidentally had a gifted class that allowed Harry to further study magical healing alongside the normal medical classes.

His move to Bern left Sirius with his two siblings and Amara alone in Biel where they had been living for the past 10 years. It had not been easy at first, not for Sirius but certainly not for Harry either, who although wanted his independence, found he missed the chaos that was the Schwarz family's daily mantra. The chaos at home only increased as two years later Amara died in a car accident in Italy where she had gone to pick up merchendise for her little clothes boutique. This left Sirius alone to take care of a 5 year old and an 11 year old while juggling his job at the mechanical shop for motorcycle. Harry went to Biel mostly every weekend to help, but University wasn't easy with tough exams and he had taken on a part time job helping at Saint Laut und Herr Brunner magical hospital.

After one year without Amara, life had fallen into a sort of routine, Leila was already old enough to manage going and coming from school alone and Jamie usually came and went with a very nice neighbour and her child, so Sirius could go to work at least while the two were at school.

Harry had finished another year at university and was home for the summer holiday taking over babysitting his two siblings while Sirius finally accepted to go on a one week vacation with his biking buddies. It had taken a great deal of convincing from Harry's part and reassurances from both Leila and James that they would behave and follow Harry's rules. Well, those reassurances were thrown out the window once Sirius left as Leila thought that with her father out of the house she could go to the lake and swim every day with friends and party until late at night.

Harry would have none of that but his sister was a little banshee giving him headache after headache. Then there was James, who was a pretty cool kid, except he had a tendency to take home every black puppy he found and calling him brother. It was hilarious, if it didn't lead to very strange conversations with the owners of the puppies. It was day three of babysitting duty and Harry decided to go to the lake himself and relax since James was at a birthday party until afternoon and Leila was already at the lake herself. He was lying on the grass after swimming for about half an hour, his headphones on his ears, when a shadow blocked his sun making him look up. There was a man, dressed in shabby clothes, with greying hair looking at him with wonder.

'Kann ich Sie helfen?' Harry asked sitting up. **(Can I help you?)**

‚You're Harry…Harry Potter.' the man said in an almost strained voice with an English accent.

'I'm sorry you have the wrong person.' Harry said as his eyes widened a bit finally recognizing the man from his father's old photo album.

'I…' Lupin, because that was who the man was, Remus Lupin, his father's only living friend from Hogwarts, if by friend you meant the man who never once visited Sirius in prison and condemned him to hell without even asking to hear Sirius's side of the story. Hell, Harry was angry with the guy, who wouldn't be. He turned his head without realizing he was exposing his scar.

'You are!' Lupin exclaimed just as Harry put his sunglasses on and got up taking his towel and bag with him.

'You've got the wrong person, sir.' Harry insisted.

'Please, I just want to know that you're OK. We thought you were dead, all these years, when you vanished in France, we thought for sure you were…'

'Sir, I don't know you, and whoever it is you're looking for isn't me.'

'I don't understand, did you lose your memory?'

'Sir, please understand, I am not-'

'HARRY!' Leila's shout as she came running from her little group of friends towards them interrupted Harry's well thought excuse.

'Was?' he asked in German. **(What?)**

'Gehst du nach Hause? Ich komme mit, warte nur bis ich hole meinen Sachen ab.' And she ran back to her friends.** (Are you going home? I'll come with you, just wait until I get my stuff.)**

'Please, I just want to make sure you are OK.' Lupin added.

Harry pinched his nose.

'Fine, you get half an hour. But then I don't ever want to see you again.'

'I'll take what you give.' Lupin smiled relieved 'Should we wait for the little lady?'

'More like harpy. No, not today. There's a small café at the corner of Bahnhofstrasse. We'll talk there tomorrow morning at nine.'

'Very well. Thank you.' Lupin left just as Leila arrived. He could hear her asking.

'Wer war dieser Mann?' **(Who was that man?)**

‚Jemand von der Vergangenheit, einen böse Mann, sag nichts zum Vater.' it was the deadly tone Harry employed that made his sister not question him. The question that came to Lupin's mind was, who was this father Harry was talking about? And why was Harry convinced he was a bad man. **(Someone from the past, a bad man, don't tell father.)**

The next day Lupin was at the cafeteria half an hour early. He ordered black tea with milk and waited. At 9 o'clock sharp Harry walked inside the café and after ordering an espresso and one croissant with butter he sat down opposite Lupin.

'What do you want from me Mr. Lupin?'

'To know what happened to you. To know that you're OK, safe and happy. Harry I don't know what you heard about me, or from who but I was your father's friend back at Hogwarts. Do you know about Hogwarts?'

'I do, I know about Hogwarts and about the sort of friend you were to my father.'

'What do you mean?'

'Well, sir, do friends abandon other friends? Do they abandon the children of friends at the mercy of hateful Muggle relatives?'

'What do you mean?'

'I mean that after mom and dad died I was sent to live with the worst kind of people. People that hated me because I could do magic, people that thought nothing about my wellbeing, people thanks to whom I almost died.'

'Dumbledore said you were sent to Lily's family.'

'Yes, her sister and her fat cruel husband and son. Lovely people, you should go have a chat with them.' Harry said his voice dripping with sarcasm.

'They mistreated you?'

'Something like that. But that's in the past. You can go back to wherever it is you came from knowing that I am happy and safe.'

'I'm sorry.'

'I don't blame you.' Harry sighed 'Merlin knows you had enough problems, what with your Lychantrophy. I guess I'm still a bit bitter, that's all.'

'How did you know?'

'What about your condition? From my father.'

'Y-your father…'

'Not James, the man that saved me and adopted me. He told me about my real parents, he helped me understand what it really means to have a family.'

'I…I'm glad you found someone like that.'

'Are you? Forget I asked, I'm not fond of English people, proclaiming me their saviour and then just forgetting about me.'

'It wasn't like that. I thought you were safe, I thought you were happy.'

'Is that why you never once came to visit? See how my aunt and uncle treated me?'

'Dumbledore said they didn't want wizards about, that it would attract the attention of bad people, put you all in danger.'

'Dumbledore? Why would he be involved? He had no relation to my parents, why would he decide?'

'He was the leader of the Order your parents and I fought for. He had your best interests at heart.'

'I sincerely doubt that. In any case, I'm of age now, have been for some time. And I make my own decisions. I decided long ago to have nothing to do with your country. I hope you can respect that decision and leave me and my family alone.' Harry got up.

Lupin got up. 'One more question and then I'll go.'

'Very well.'

'Who took you away from the Dursleys?'

Harry pondered what to answer before meeting Lupin's eyes straight on 'No one, they left me to die in France.'

Lupin's eyes grew big at this. 'But-'

'Good day Mr. Lupin.' And with that Harry left the man with so many unanswered questions he was barely aware of how he returned to England the following day.

* * *

It was two days after and one day until Sirius returned from his vacation that Harry's hope of never seeing Lupin again vanished when the man returned and knocked at his father's door together with Albus Dumbledore.

'So much for keeping your word, Lupin.' Harry snarled.

'Harry, I'm sorry, but we need to talk.' Said Remus

'I gave you half an hour, we talked, I told you I was fine and that I don't want anything to do with your lot.'

'Be that as it may, Mr. Potter.'

'It's Schwartz.' Harry corrected. 'My name is Harry Schwartz and I am a citizen of Switzerland since three years ago.'

'You are also a citizen of Great Britain are you not?'

'Only to honour my parents.'

'Your parents gave their lives for the greater good.'

'They gave their lives to protect me. Look, I doubt I care for what you will have to say to me. So let's spare each other's time and you leave now.'

'My boy, what did we ever do to make you hate us so?'

'It's more what you didn't do. But that's beside the point. As I said to Mr. Lupin before, I want nothing to do with England.'

'But England may soon want something to do with you.' Dumbledore said 'Harry, Voldemort is back and he-'

'There has been nothing about it on the news.'

'No, because the ministry doesn't want to acknowledge his return, but he has been back for almost two years now.'

'Still don't see what it has to do with me.'

'We shouldn't discuss these things out in the open.' Dumbledore said.

Harry sighed 'My siblings will be back in one hour, I want you gone long before then.'

'Thank you.' And so the two men entered the house. Harry was thanking whatever gods there were out there that Sirius was still not home. He led them to the kitchen.

'I assume you know about Voldemort…'

'You can assume I know about Voldemort and about the stupid prophecy that led to my parents' deaths.'

'If so, you can see why your presence back in England is needed. You could be the one to finally vanquish the Dark Lord.'

'No, I don't think I am.' Harry said

'But-'

'Look, I decided long ago I won't live my life in the shadow of that prophecy. I don't care if a seer saw me vanquish Voldemort. I won't do anything I don't want to, and I certainly don't want to kill a man.'

'You will find Voldemort isn't quite a man anymore.'

'You will find I don't care about your opinion.'

'People are dying in England!' Dumbledore drew irritated

'So? People are dying in Africa, should I go end hunger and war too? I'm one man…'

'You don't have to be, the Order of the Phoenix will help you.' Said Lupin

'Like it helped me by placing me at my aunt and uncles? Like it helped one of its own to-' but Harry stopped himself. He shouldn't draw attention to his father. 'I'm sorry, but being abandoned by your order once, was enough to make me see the type of help I'll be getting from there.'

'Your mother sacrificed yourself for you. Her sister's home was the safest place for you back then. There were dangers all over, death eaters that were still free and eager to do you harm for their master.'

'Your definition of safe is slightly off, headmaster. And that place was never my home unless you can count a cupboard under the stairs as home, unless you count neglect and being treated like a house elf as home. Did you know my first visit to the doctors was when I was 6 years old and dying of dragon Pox?'

'What? But that's…' Lupin gaped

'Yes, I was never taken to get my shots so I got the disease when they begrudgingly had to take me on their little vacation in the south of France because Mrs. Figg was on holiday and Aunt Marge didn't want to take me.'

'But…'

'But I should be dead? Yes, I should be, in fact you can leave here thinking Harry James Potter died on that vacation in France 15 years ago.'

'How did you survive?' asked Dumbledore

'With a lot of luck and a lot of love and sacrifice. My case drew the attention of a Madmoiselle Dantes who was somewhat of a celebrity in France and who intervened to have my magical guardian brought to me.'

'But Dumbledore, aren't you his magical guardian?'

'No…I…'

'She called the magical guardian to make him decide my fate, to prologue my agony or to pull the plug as the muggles would say. Put me out of my misery.'

'Your magical guardian as per your parent's will was Sirius Black. Was it not?' asked Dumbledore

'Yes.'

'So that's why he was taken to France all those years ago, that's why he managed to escape…' Lupin said.

'What did Sirius do? Did he try to kill you?'

Harry snorted 'That goes to show how much you know. He offered to die to save my life. Of course I only found out after on my 17th birthday when Alexandra sent me my medical files.'

'Sirius did…'

'Yes, lucky for me, I had a guardian that truly cared about my wellbeing.'

'So, his sacrifice…'

Harry didn't answer.

'I don't understand, Sirius was convicted of betraying you and your parents to Voldemort.' Lupin was confused

'He was never convicted Mr. Lupin. Because he never had a trial, that was why my guardianship never switched from him. You lot sent a man to Azkaban without a trial, the one man who was innocent of all his crimes.'

'That can't be, he was secret keeper…he had to have-'

'He wasn't secret keeper. Which you would have found out, had you taken 5 minutes to get off your high horse and go talk to the man.' Harry shook his head 'I think you should leave now.'

'Harry.'

'I will never fight for you or your pathetic excuse of a country. Are there people dying, innocent people? Maybe, but it has nothing to do with me and my family. You lot have a structure, a ministry that's supposed to deal with such nuttjobs. Don't come asking help from the one man your ministry screwed out of a loving home. Now get out!'

'When the time comes and Voldemort sets his eyes on you. You will be alone.' Dumbledore said

'Like you care about me. Don't worry Headmaster, I'll be sure to alert the authorities and unlike your pathetic Aurors, the Swiss have a much better prepared force.'

The two rose up to leave when the keys in the door clicked. Harry looked at the clock, Leila wasn't due back for another half an hour.

'I'm home!' came his father's voice and Lupin and Dumbledore froze.

'Daddy! Ich habe ein Motor gehört und wurste, dass du zurück bist!' his little brother who had been playing at the neighbours came shouting. 'Guck, ich habe meinem neue Bruder gefunden.' **(Dad, I heard a motorbike and I knew you were back) (Look, I found my new brother)**

'Das ist nicht deinen Bruder, Schatz.' Sirius laughed **(That is not your brother, love.)**

'Aber er ist Schwartz wie du.' **(But he's black, like you)**

„Nicht für lange, ich habe einen silbern Haar gefunden." **(Not for long, I've found a silver hair.)**

‚Wo?' **(Where?)**

‚Hier. Also, wo hast du er gefunden?' **(Here. So, where did you find him?)**

‚Im Garten…' **(In the garden.)**

‚Unser?' **(Ours?)**

‚Nein, bei Felicia.' **(No, at Felicia.)**

‚Du muss ihm zurückgeben.' **(You have to give him back)**

‚Aber…' **(But...)**

‚Er gehört nicht zu dir Schatz.' **(He doesn't belong to you, love.)**

‚Aber…' **(But...)**

‚Du hast eine Katze.' **(You have a cat.)**

‚Ja, aber Minnie ist böse…' **(Yes, but Minnie is mean.)**

‚Jamie…'

‚Ich gehe.' sighed the little guy and Sirius chuckled. **(I'm going.)**

'Harry, are you home?' shouted Sirius.

'You two leave now.' Harry whispered.

'Do you have friends over?'

'No…' Harry glared at the two men who weren't moving. Harry went to try and intercept Sirius.

'Is Hanna here? I better not catch you two naked on the kitchen table.'

'Very funny. Why did you come back one day early?' Harry asked when he met Sirius in the hallway as the man was taking off his shoes and leather jacket.

'The guys wanted to go to Italy for another three days and I decided to cut it short. I don't really like driving in Italy.'

'Oh. So was it fun?'

'Oh yeah, the road to Zermatt is a beauty. Anyway, I stopped at a trout lake and I caught us our dinner.' He took out a miniature basin from his breast pocket where five tiny fish were swimming.

'That's great! Why don't you give them to me and go take a shower.'

'Thanks. Did Leila and James give you any trouble?'

'James no, but Leila…'

'She's at that age…'

'Which age? Driving her brother insane age?'

'Well, not all kids can be as great as you were at 12.' Sirius chuckled. 'Although your rebellious side did emerge around 16…'

'I was never as bad as Leila.'

'True.' Sirius walked upstairs and Harry dashed inside the kitchen.

'What are you two still doing here? I told you to leave!'

'You said Sirius sacrificed himself…' Lupin said

'No, I said he wanted to. Good thing healers in France have a moral code and don't kill people in illegal rituals.'

'But then, how…' Lupin started

'None of your business, get out!'

'We would like to speak with your godfather-'

'Over my dead body! He's off limits, you've caused the man enough damage. Now get out!'

'Who are you talking to?' Sirius asked as he turned the corner and entered the kitchen. He had forgotten his phone in his jacket and wanted to text his friends that he had arrived safely back home. As he looked up from his phone he almost dropped it.

'Remus, Dumbledore.'

'Felicia's Muti was sehr wütend, Papi. Sie wird später vorbei kommen um mit dir zu reden.' Jamie entered the house and came to the kitchen. 'Wir haben Gäste?' **(Felicia's mum was very angry, dad. She will come by later to talk to you.) (We have guests?)**

'Nein, they were just leaving.' Harry said firmly.

'Sirius...' Remus pointed his wand at the man. 'What sort of lies did you tell Harry?'

This seemed to shake Sirius out of his reverie. 'Lower your wand Lupin, unless you want to go to jail for trespassing and threatening a man in his own home.'

'What will the authorities say when they find out you're an escaped convict.'

'To be a convict I should have been convicted of something, which I wasn't. The only trial I had, found me innocent and that was after spending five years in Azkaban.'

'Daddy…' James was clinging to Sirius's blouse looking frightened at Remus's wand.

'Harry, take James upstairs.'

'I'm not leaving you here alone with them. Jamie, geh in deinem Zimmer.' **(Jamie, go to your room.)**

‚Aber…' **(But...)**

‚Ich bleibe mit Vater, geh. ' Jamie looked long at Harry before consenting knowing full well his big brother would help his father. **(I'll stay with dad, go.)**

‚OK.' the kid shuffled his feet all the way up to his room.

'That was your son?' asked Dumbledore

'I don't see how that is your business.' Sirius replied coldly. 'I don't know why Harry invited you in…'

'I didn't. They arrived uninvited.'

'I see, well then, I'm going to have to ask you to leave.'

'Don't you think you owe us an explanation?'

'No, actually, I don't think I owe either of you anything, not after you left me to rot in prison for five years.'

'You were the secret keeper…'

'I wasn't, which you would have found out, had you taken the time to actually demand an explanation before chunking me in Azkaban and not twenty years late.'

'Sirius, both you and James said you were secret keeper.'

'We did, often and loud, to protect the real one. Too bad it was the wrong person to protect.'

'But if you weren't the secret keeper, why didn't you tell…you thought I was the traitor.' Lupin grew white.

'Maybe I did, but even if you had turned out traitor, I would have still come to visit you at least once to ask for an explanation.' Sirius shook his head 'Get out.'

'Sirius, you should know.' Dumbledore said as they were at the door. 'Voldemort has returned. Two years ago. If you are truly innocent and if you care-'

'Get out!' this time it was Harry who shifted to be between Sirius and Dumbledore. 'You have no right to ask anything of him. Get out and leave our family alone!'

Dumbledore nodded. 'We'll go, but we'll be there if you decide to come back.' The two stepped outside and Harry slammed the door shut before turning towards Sirius.

'I'm sorry. A few days ago Lupin saw me when I was out by the lake. I told him I wasn't Harry but Leila shouted my name and he saw my scar…I…I told him to leave us alone, but today he came back with the headmaster. I had hoped to make them understand I don't want anything to do with them, but…'

'It's OK.' Sirius barely whispered before turning to go upstairs.

'Dad…'

'I need to take a shower…' the older man said smiling an unconvincing smile at Harry.

'I…I'm sorry…'

'It's not your fault.' Sirius said turning and squeezing Harry's shoulder. 'Get that trout ready.' And with that he went upstairs.

Harry was cleaning the third fish when James came back down.

'Bruder Herz, ist Papi OK?' **(Big brother, is dad ok?)**

‚Die zwei Männer von früher sind nicht unseren Freunden. Aber mach dir keine Sorge, ich werde Vater schützen.' **(The two men from before aren't our friends. But don't worry, I'll protect dad.)**

‚Ich auch!' **(Me too.)**

‚Du auch, du kannst ihm froh machen.' **(You too, you can make him happy.)**

‚Wie?' **(How?)**

‚Sei ein gutes Kind und mach ihm lachen.' **(Be a good kid and make him laugh)**

‚Ich kann das machen.' **(I can do that)**

‚Sehr gut.' **(very good)**

* * *

Dumbledore left, but Remus Lupin did not. He wanted to get to the bottom of all that Harry had said, and if Sirius was truly innocent, which he very much doubted, he just needed to know. Most likely Sirius had brainwashed Harry into believing he was innocent and somehow escaped France with the child. Maybe he even told Harry he had dragon pox, modified the child's memories of his time at his aunt and uncles', things couldn't have been so bad for baby Harry, after all, what sort of family would lock Harry in a cupboard. That was something more like the Black family would do. So he stayed hidden and observed. It was evening when, from his hiding place at the back of their garden, he saw Sirius appear on the terrace. He was alone at first as he sat down and transformed into Padfoot. A few minutes later and his son joined him. They were speaking in German, but Lupin understood.

'Daddy, do you think I can have a puppy for my birthday?'

Padfoot shook his head.

'Why not? I promise to take care of it, I'll even walk it.'

'Jamie,' Harry came out too. 'You wanted a turtle two years back and after one week, dad was left with taking care of it.'

'But I'm all grown up now!'

'Until you stop bringing every black puppy you find home, you're not old enough.' Harry said.

'Dad! I want to wear the red skirt tomorrow for piano practice, I'll go out to the mall with some friends after…'

At that Padfoot transformed back into Sirius. 'Definitely not. That can't even be called a skirt, it's too short.'

'No it's not. And its summer, you said I could wear it in summer.'

'That was before you grew a few inches and now it's too small for you.'

'I did not get fat.'

'Sunshine, it's not about fat, it's about height.'

'Mom would have let me wear it.'

'Your mother wouldn't have let you buy it in the first place.'

'Uh! You're ruining my life!' and Leila stormed off leaving the three males of the house behind.

'Thank Merlin you're a boy.' Sirius sighed shaking his head at his youngest son.

'She's at that age…' said Harry

'Remind me again how long puberty lasts…' Sirius sighed

'What is puberty?' asked James

'A parent's nightmare.' Sirius answered ruffling James's hair. 'Now, it's way past your bedtime, go brush your teeth.'

'Can I get a story?'

'Only if you're in bed in 10 minutes when I come to tuck you in.'

'Yay, I want a story about Prongs and Moony.' And the child ran inside. Remus felt at a loss. He didn't understand, wasn't this Voldemort's right hand man? Wasn't Sirius responsible for James's death? Why did he name his son after the man he helped kill? And stories about Prongs and Moony? But he was brought back to the present when he heard Harry speak.

'I am sorry.'

'Whatever for? It's my fault Leila is spoiled, Amara told me I was spoiling her.'

'Not that, you haven't changed into Padfoot for a long time.'

'I changed a week ago to chase James around the garden.'

'Not like that. Don't act like everything is all right, dad. I'm old enough, and I knew even when I was little, when it became too much, Padfoot was your refuge.'

'It's just…I had hoped this moment would never come…'

'It came, and it went away. I won't allow them to bother us, if they show up here again I'll go straight to the police, they have no right to harass you or me.'

'You're right, it's just…he still thinks I betrayed James and Lily.'

'He's an idiot who doesn't deserve your friendship.'

'I…'

'No, don't you dare think it. I know what you said to yourself, and what you let imply today, but I know it isn't true. You never thought he was the traitor, you just never told him because there was no time. He was gone and you switched at the last moment.'

'Harry…'

'Sirius, please forget they were ever here.'

'You haven't called me Sirius in a long time, pup.'

'Yes well, dad seems to sadden you today.'

Sirius looked at Harry for a longer moment before smiling. 'You have grown into a very perceptive young man. You know I'm always going to be proud of you.'

'Why are you talking as if you're going away?'

'I'm not, can't a father praise his kid every once in a while…'

'Sirius…'

'There you go again.'

'This isn't funny, what are you thinking of doing?'

'Regale James with a story about your dad and me at Hogwarts.' Sirius stepped inside and Harry followed so Remus couldn't hear the rest of the conversation.

Another week passed and Harry had to leave Biel for Bern. He didn't like the idea one bit. Leaving Sirius alone after Lupin and Dumbledore discovered them wasn't something that made him feel safe. He suggested to Sirius he and the kids come live with him in Bern, but his apartment had only two rooms and even with magical enhancements it wasn't big enough for four people plus, Harry's girlfriend Hanna who was mostly at his place during the week. Not to mention Hanna was Muggle and she had no idea what Magic could do.

So before he left Harry took aside Leila for a talk.

'What is it?' she was of course not paying attention as she was texting one of her many friends on her phone. Harry wouldn't have any of that so he vanished it with a wave of his wand.

'Hey!'

'This is serious, Leila. I have to leave for Bern and I need you to be my eyes and ears here.'

'You've been away in Bern for most of the past 3 years. Why is this time special?' she asked folding her hands in front of her.

'I will explain, but you're not to tell dad I told you.'

'Why?'

'Because he probably won't like it.'

'Golden boy doing something against his father.'

'More like for him. Now listen. Do you remember last week at the lake a grey haired man talked to me?'

'That shabby looking guy? Yeah, I remember.'

'That guy used to be dad's friend back in England.'

'Dad never talks about England, except the stories about Hogwarts.'

'Yeah, well, there's a reason for that, that man and another who came by last week think dad did something bad, dad never did anything, he was innocent but they don't believe him. They might try to hurt him. So I need you to keep an eye out. If anyone suspicious wanders around the house, you let me know.'

'It sounds a bit farfetched. What do they think dad is guilty of anyway? Peeing in the flower garden as Padfoot?'

'This isn't a joke!' Harry said angrily.

'It just seems so incredible, I mean it's dad, he wouldn't hurt a fly…ok, maybe not a fly, but he's…'

'I know, but they don't. So, promise you'll keep an eye out. For at least the rest of summer, stay closer to home, I'll come every weekend, so you can get away, but during the week…'

'All right.'

'And don't let dad find out.'

'Do I look like I need to be told that?' she rolled her eyes at him.

'You're impossible.'

'But you love me.'

'Still don't know why.' He ruffled her hair and she protested. Harry left knowing that even if Leila was slightly annoying, the girl was extremely perceptive and from her grades and the way she remembered things, he was almost certain she had an eidetic memory. She just was a teenager with an eidetic memory, but she would grow out of it, he was certain of that at least.

The week went by without any major incidents, at least until Thursday. Leila made sure to come home earlier than usual and coincidently suggested to her friends they go at the café across the street from her father's motor shop. She didn't see anything suspicious until Thursday evening when she looked out the window to the garden before closing her windows' shutter. There was just a slight movement and something that caught the street light in an odd way, but it was enough for her to want to investigate. She went downstairs where Sirius had fallen asleep on the couch with the TV running and silently opened the garden door. Her wand was out and she performed a silent human revelio charm. She realized she had been right and there was someone right outside the wards around the house. She was pondering what to do when Sirius opened the terrace door.

'What are you doing out here sweetheart?' he asked before spotting the wand in her hand.

'Nothing, I just thought I saw something out in the garden but it was nothing.'

'Ok, well then, go inside, I'll lock up down here.' Sirius kissed her forehead.

'I'll help.' Leila said quickly, not wanting to leave her father alone when she knew someone was out there.

'There's just the terrace window to close, I think I can manage that myself.' He chuckled. 'I'll just check on Jim, see if he has enough food.'

'I'll come with you…' Jim, the tortoise her brother got for his birthday had its home at the back of the garden in a makeshift tortoise enclosure. It was too close to where she had seen movement for her liking.

'You don't like Jim.'

'He's starting to grow on me.' She said going forward.

Sirius followed her bemused. Jim was, as usual, all right. Napping under the hollow log in the middle of his home.

'Looks like he ate all the leaves I set for him in the morning.' Sirius inspected the food area.

'What else can he do all day long?' Leila said looking nervously at the edge of the garden.

'True, not very exciting, the life of a turtle.' Sirius chuckled. 'What are you looking at?' Sirius asked finally observing her odd behaviour.

'Nothing.'

'This nothing is very interesting then. Lumos!' the Garden's edge became clearer in the light but there was nothing there.

'See, nothing. Let's get back inside.'

They went back inside and Sirius closed the terrace door. Leila made her way to her room but made a note to tell Harry about it the next day when her brother returned for the weekend.

Sirius however knew when his daughter was acting odd. As perceptive as the girl was, she wasn't a good liar. Which was just as well, since otherwise, she would have been unstoppable. There was something in the garden, or rather outside it, since the wards were intact. He strengthened them before going to sleep and made a note to investigate in the morning when Leila was out of the house with Jamie.

Remus watched as the girl reluctantly left for school after her sick routine didn't hold. For the past week he had been observing Black's family he had formed an opinion about them. The boy had the attention span equivalent with the memory of a goldfish. He was easily distracted and made comments that brought tears of laughter in his father's eyes. He also had a fondness for animals, but he wasn't quite there yet when it came to actually taking care of them. The girl, Leila was at that age when she thought she was already a woman grown, a lot of opinions and Remus realized, many formed because she read a lot, books too, but mostly articles on the internet. She also had a lot of friends, and with her looks Remus was sure she also had a few boyfriends in waiting, only she wasn't about to spring one on her father yet. There were two sides of this girl, one that loved to annoy her father and one that cared about him a lot. He was pulled back from his thoughts when Sirius returned to the garden.

'I know you're out there Remus.' Sirius said loud and clear 'If you want to talk, come out, if not, I suggest you leave.'

Remus stepped forward and pulled back the invisibility cloak Dumbledore had left him, the one that had belonged to James.

'Do we have anything to talk about after 20 years?' he asked his former friend.

'By the way you were observing my family I should think you have a few questions. I don't appreciate the surveillance, Lupin. You either say what you want to say or leave.'

'That's rich coming from the guy that told me you don't owe us an explanation.'

'That was Harry who said that. But I agree with him, I did owe you an explanation, 20 years ago. I doubt it will be of any use to you now.'

'Why did you do it?'

'Do what?'

'Betray them.'

'You're not going to believe me, so why ask?'

'I want to hear it from you.'

'I didn't betray James and Lily. Although I am responsible for their deaths. It was me who convinced them to switch to Peter at the last minute.'

'Convenient that you killed Peter, the only other person to know the truth.'

'I didn't kill the rat.' Sirius growled 'The bastard escaped.'

'Now you're delusional if you think I'll believe that. There were witnesses that said you blew him up.'

'Muggles, who know nothing about magic. Pettigrew blew the gas line under the street and made it look as if I had done it. But as I said, you won't believe the truth unless Pettigrew comes out of hiding, and he won't, he's a coward, how he ended up in Gryffindor is beyond me.'

'I will not have you speak ill of the dead, the ones you murdered no less!' Lupin yelled.

'Then leave, or don't ask questions to which you don't want to hear the answer.'

'Sirius, why did you take Harry away from his relatives? Why did you tell him all these lies?'

'I didn't take Harry away, not at first. When Alexandra pulled me out of Azkaban to have me make the call on his life, he was already away from the Dursleys. Unresponsive, malnourished, they never took him once to the doctor's. What sort of family does that to a 6 year old?'

'I think you're exaggerating.'

'Where were you? I asked myself that question so many times in the months I stayed at Harry's bedside. I had been in Azkaban, although not a decent excuse, it was why I couldn't be there for the kid. But you, you were free, and you never once, ONCE, visited James's son in five years.'

'Dumbledore said he was with Lily's family, and that it was safer if our world didn't know where exactly, visits from me would have…'

'And you couldn't find a way? You're a wizard Lupin, use glamour, Polyjuice, mascaraed as a muggle for one or two hours and just pass by the house. No excuse, none, will make me forgive you for abandoning Harry.'

'I didn't abandon him! I wanted to go and see him, I just…my condition…'

'Oh, hiding behind your lycanthropy again? Typical of you.'

'I'm dangerous, I could have…'

'You could have what? You turn once a month, I didn't expect you to visit Harry on a full moon, just…to visit him. Maybe tell him about James and Lily. But no, the kid had to think his parents died in a car crash, his aunt told him James was unemployed…James, who had been one of the best Aurors that passed through the academy. He didn't even know how they looked like. So tell me again, how you staying away helped.'

'Sirius I…'

'You what? You didn't know? Well, that's what happens when you don't check or visit, you don't know. Just like you never knew about the switch in secret keepers, you were too much of a coward to come and demand an explanation.'

'How could I have demanded an explanation? You were sent to Azkaban almost immediately, you don't know how it was after the fall, people were suspicious, if I had demanded to see you, they would have found a way to incriminate me, I'm a werewolf after all!'

'Yes, hide behind Moony again.'

'I was not hiding! I was suffering, my best friend was killed because my other best friend betrayed him and then killed our other best friend in cold blood along with 12 Muggles. You can't imagine how hard it was!'

'Was it like reliving the worst moments of your life over and over again for five years knowing the people you trusted didn't even give you the benefit of a doubt, instead forgot what you did for them and just sentenced you to hell without even looking you in the eyes? Forgive me if I don't cry tears of sympathy for you.'

'How did you escape France?'

'I didn't escape France.'

'Stop lying.'

'I'm not. I had a trial in France, the one that was denied me in England. They value human right there and as it is, I have French ancestry which gave me citizenship which allowed me to have a trial.'

'A trial?'

'Yes, they found me innocent, oddly enough, even if they put me under unbreakable oath.'

'But that's…'

'Impossible? Only if you still cling to the idea that I am guilty. I spoke the truth and they deemed me innocent. But knowing that our ministry sent me to jail without a trial made them fear for my safety, so I entered an Obscurum Program, changed my family name, adopted Harry and after one year in France we moved to Switzerland with a job opportunity for me. So you see, I didn't escape France, because I wasn't a prisoner in France, nor am I one here.'

'You must have tricked them somehow…'

'You can't trick an unbreakable vow. Look, I know it must be difficult to come to terms with this, but I am not your enemy, I never was. You've seen Harry, he's alive and well, a healthy young man with a bright future ahead of him. If I were Voldemort's man, would he still be alive now?'

'You twisted his mind…he doesn't want to go back to fight against Voldemort.'

'I didn't twist anything, Lupin. Harry has a mind of his own, he wanted to come live with me at the age of 6, he wanted me to adopt him and he decided himself he doesn't want to go back to England.'

'But Lily and James…'

'They wouldn't care if Harry went to live in China, if he was happy. As for Harry fighting against Voldemort, why would he? His parents died to protect him, it would be a poor way to repay their sacrifice by going into the very fight they were trying to keep him away from.'

'So you'll let Voldemort win?'

'I'm not saying that, but Harry shouldn't be involved in this fight.'

'And you?'

'I have two kids to worry about, aside from Harry who would never forgive me if I returned to England after what they did to me, to us.'

'Where is their mother?'

'Amara died about one year ago, car crash.'

'I'm sorry.'

'Why do you care?'

'No child should have to live without their parents.'

'They are good kids.'

'Why did you name him James?'

'Because I miss him.' That simple answer was filled with such dread and sadness that Lupin's resolve to not believe Sirius's lies was starting to crumble. No one was such a good actor, not even Sirius Black.

'You-' but Remus couldn't finish the sentence as a stunning spell almost hit him. Sirius turned to see an angry Harry in the terrace doorway.

'Harry…'

'I've had enough! You just don't get it, do you? We don't want anything to do with you. Wasn't it enough that you abandoned him to five years in Azkaban? What more do you want from the man? You took away the best years of his life!'

'Harry.' Sirius tried to calm the younger man down.

'No! You will not defend them, dad! They don't deserve your forgiveness and I don't want them in our lives!'

'Harry, please, I called Remus out.'

'Out of hiding you mean, Leila told me she saw something suspicious in the back of the garden.'

'Yes well, she's not very subtle.' Sirius sighed. 'You put her up to this?'

'I told her to keep an eye out.'

'That's why she's been home so much?' Sirius sighed 'And I thought she had finally passed the going to the mall stage. Still, you shouldn't have done that, it could have been dangerous for her.'

'I told her to keep an eye out, not to engage. Besides, she can take care of herself.'

'She's twelve, she shouldn't have to-' But Sirius stopped and sat down head in his hands.

'Dad?' Harry grew worried. Remus felt like he was missing something important, he felt like he was intruding, and yet, he was starting to believe Sirius was innocent, which meant, the man had been his friend, was still his friend.

'I'm sorry, I just need some fresh air.' Sirius said

'You're in the garden.' Harry pointed out and Sirius laughed derisively.

'Dad, whatever it is you're thinking stop. Whatever the problem is, we'll get through it, together.'

'I love you so much, pup.'

'Don't go talking like that again.'

'I'm sorry, you're right.'

'Sirius…Harry, I'm sorry.' Remus finally said. And the two men turned towards the werewolf. 'I…I believe you, you were innocent all along.'

'Took you long enough.' Harry threw back.

'I deserve that. And you deserve your wishes to be respected. So, I'll get out of your lives and tell Dumbledore to leave you alone also.' He took out the invisibility cloak from his pocket. 'This was your father's Harry, James's. It was meant for you.'

'You had it all this time?'

'No, Dumbledore had it, he had borrowed it from James a few days before…'

'That man has a lot to answer for.' Harry said angrily. 'Throwing innocent people in jail without a trial, placing me with my aunt and keeping stuff that don't belong to him.'

'Harry, Dumbledore only did what he thought was right.'

'That doesn't make it any better.' Harry pressed on. 'Thank you for the cloak Mr. Lupin now get out!'

'Harry…' Sirius tried again.

'No! I know you, if you start talking to him you will want to help them, and what will happen to Leila and James then? They are too little and they already lost their mother. England can take care of itself, you need to take care of your family.'

'Harry is right.' Remus said 'One man won't make much of a difference now, and you have two children to think about, three with Harry.'

'Unfortunately I might be the only one to make a difference.' Sirius sighed.

'What do you mean?' Harry frowned.

'Voldemort made something that keeps him from dying. Something or more somethings, I can't be sure…'

'What are you talking about?' asked Remus

But Harry knew what his father was talking about. He was talking about Horcruxes, like the one Sirius had purified from his scar.

'I'm talking about something called Horcruxes.'

'I don't know the term.' Remus said

'No, you wouldn't. No decent man would. They are the result of splitting ones soul and hiding it inside a vessel. This keeps the person from dying and Voldemort made more than one.'

'How do you know?' asked Remus frowning.

'I discovered one about 15 years ago.' Explained Sirius.

'Did you destroy it? How do you know it wasn't just one?'

'They can't be easily destroyed, only two methods are known, one is fiend fire and another is Basilisk venom.'

'But then how did you purify my scar?' asked Harry.

'Your scar?' Remus asked 'You mean it was a Horcrux?'

'Yes, the doctor in France sent me my medical files when I turned 17.'

'Alexandra did what?' Sirius asked bewildered.

'She said my scar was purified by the ritual, that you took the Horcrux awa-' Harry stopped his eyes widening. 'It can't be, you…you didn't destroy it.'

'I couldn't, it would have meant your life.' Sirius said softly.

'Then where is it?' asked Remus.

Harry was torn between yelling and crying. The Horcrux was inside his father, that was the only explanation, why Sirius could talk to snakes. He remembered how freaked out Sirius had been when he first realized he could do so. It was just after Leila was born. Harry realized that had been a blessing in a way. Sirius wouldn't have dared to have children had he known the purification hadn't work, but rather what had happened was a transfer of the soul piece.

'Inside me.' Sirius finally spoke. 'I'll have to die for Voldemort to become mortal.'

'NO!' Harry finally regained his voice. 'There has to be another way. You transferred it once, we can transfer it again, maybe to an inanimate object.'

'Harry it doesn't work that way.'

'Then how did it work with me?'

'I can't create a connection such as the ritual permitted with an inanimate object. For you it worked because the soul wanted to leave your body, you were frail, and dying, I, as a vessel, was more appealing.'

'If what you're saying is true, why didn't you sense Voldemort return?'

'I have been practicing Occlumency for a long time now. Besides, the soul fragment is very small, Voldemort doesn't know about it, it was an accident, most likely a result from his soul becoming too unstable after he created too many Horcruxes.'

'You can't mean he has more! That would make it impossible for us to kill him.'

'I am sure he has more, nothing can split a soul so easily, not unless the soul was damaged beyond repair before that.'

'So even if you die, there's no guarantee he can be killed.'

'No, I suppose there isn't.'

'There is no if.' Harry finally stepped in. he had been in shock to find out the burden Sirius had taken from him. He would have had to die if the man standing before him hadn't taken his place.'

'Harry, I won't die now, not before the other Horcruxes are destroyed, but once they are destroyed…'

'No! You won't give your life for this. I won't allow it. We'll transfer the Horcrux back to me.'

'Over my dead body!' Sirius said angrily 'I won't allow it, and besides the ritual fades the connection once you turn of age, it wouldn't work.'

'It would, since I renewed the connection on my 17th birthday.'

'You what? How?' Sirius grew white

'Alexandra also sent me a book on the ritual you used back when I was 6. There's a second part of the ritual, the one that the child can use once he or she becomes of age. A part that grants the parent a long life, as long as the child lives, the parent won't die.'

'But that's illegal!' Remus said

'In England, maybe, but not in France.' Said Harry

'Why did you do that pup?'

'Why did you do it for me when I was six?' Harry replied smiling 'I love you, dad, and I want to keep you safe, the way you have me.'

'What you have done is foolish.'

'Maybe, but I'm not taking it back. If anyone tries to kill you, they will have to go through me first.'

'I will not transfer the Horcrux to you.'

'I know you won't. But neither can you die as long as I live. So, you can keep it.' Harry turned to Lupin. 'I want an unbreakable vow from you that this information will not leave this house.'

'You can't do that! Dumbledore and the order need to be told about these things.'

'It's either that or I will obliviate you.'

* * *

That's all folks, please don't hate the cliff-hanger, but my inspiration ran out and it had not come back for a while now. I'm not sure if I will leave the ending open or if I'll update it at some point in the future, as I said at the beginning, inspiration bunnies are in short supply lately, but you never know. Review if you feel like it, and sorry for the spelling and grammar mistakes in all three languages, I haven't used French in a few years now, so it's rusty at best, German was never systematically learnt, it was more a learn on the job type of thing, and well, with English I have no excuse other than I am getting sloppier with old age. Anyway, have a nice evening, I am so happy tomorrow is a free day, get to sleep in :) Iris out.


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